


BerryBarrel Village

by Jitterz



Category: Bugsnax (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:39:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28340109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jitterz/pseuds/Jitterz
Summary: An adventure for after the game.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. A Monday Meeting

Within the dark after hours at the newspaper office, Clumby sat with her paws curled into fists on her desk. On the movie screen a black and white film flickered as it was paused, rewound, and replayed. The scene is of a small community celebrating. A familiar looking Grumpus steps onto the stage and waves before beginning to speak. With an audible click, the shadowy figure sitting on the other side of the projector pressed the button to unmute the audio.

“--Thank you! I wouldn’t be here without the help of my friends!” Ringes out Filbo’s cheerful voice. 

The paw clicks the button back off, and the audio stops even though the video still plays. A gathering of familiar faces join him on the stage before another dark paw clicks a button. The film stops on that frame.

"Clumby." The figure finally speaks, but remains hidden behind the projector. "You were tasked with keeping an eye on this mess you made, weren't you?"

"So what if the blue idiot won some small village election? Almost all the votes were from their group and all he really gets to do is continue to wear that stupid sash." She retorted with irritation.

"They would have been easier to silence, before this." The figure calmly replied and tossed a single paper onto Clumby's desk. On it was a list of small island names, none of which would be found on any map. Two were now crossed off. 

"Another island has--" Clumby caught herself. "-but it wasn't this group! They've been sticking together at this run down little village in the middle of nowhere. Not doing anything of note beyond holding some very poorly organized parties."

"You still have two unaccounted for, don't you?" Noted the cold voice.

Clumby froze, her paws mid grip on the paper. "Lizbert Megafig and Eggabell Batternugget did not survive Snacktooth island."

"If all would have gone to plan, a simple plan we have used for ages without any problem, then none of them would have survived that island. Yet the group you sent your reporter after manages not only to survive but also to cause the island to break itself apart and sink back into the sea." 

"That reporter was not-" She began to raise her voice but felt her reply die in her throat as the other figure stood up. Their frame elongating past normal Grumpus anatomy as it then turned to look over her desk. 

Appearing unmoved by this, Clumby glared back and slammed her paws on her desk.

"I did not send that idiot, they were fired the moment they left that day! So what if they survived? I did not set up all the others who followed Lizbert there. I'm not in charge of the archive islands or their protections. That mess is solely on you!"

A silence hung in the air after this, as the huge shadowy figure loomed over the smaller agitated figure.

"You… have a point." The shadow retreated, soft crunching noises being heard as it compacted itself back into an acceptable shape of a Grumpus. "We will tend to the islands and those who are connected to their sinking. However, you must tend to these loose ends. If Lizbert Megafig and Eggabell Batternugget are still alive, they must not reconnect with the others. Remove them."

There was no response beyond a determined nod from the owner of the newspaper desk. Satisfied with that, the shadowy figure seemed to scatter and vanish back into the darkness of the room. After a few more moments and she was sure that she was alone again, Clumby slammed her paws down on her desk. Papers flew around the desk and she cursed the still figures on the film screen. By Grump, how she hated these Monday meetings.


	2. In the Fields

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter in the fields and questions!

Out in the rolling hills and dotted forests, nestled between a network of lakes and rivers, rested BerryBarrel village on a large paw shaped bit of land. Guarded on all sides by rivers, heavy wooden bridges connected it to vast farmlands and lush fields.

A cool breeze rolled across the lands, rustling golden wheat crops and the distant distinct flowers of sauce plants. By the edge of the field, the sun gently warmed Buddy’s fur as they rested on their back on top of a pile of large boulders. Their trusty journal perched on their chest as they held their eyes closed in thought. They were musing about how to start the story ahead of them. It was a special request from Triffany, and Buddy just couldn’t say no to her. Also, Buddy really looked forward to writing again!

Tracking down local lore and gathering stories to then sort fact from fiction! Buddy smiled. Yes, interviews were in order! For a moment, they wondered what their old boss would say to this and as the yellow glaring face began to take shape in their mind-- a sound diverted Buddy’s thoughts.

Quickly sitting up, Buddy would have launched their notebook into the fields had they not flailed their paws to catch it. All around them, the bountiful fields now stood eerily still under the sun. A moment between the gentle breezes that was seeming to last a rather concerning amount of time. To the side of the rock pile within the tall crops, something moved. Buddy mentally went over the list of local creatures, and the crops rustled again without the aid of wind. Deciding it’d probably be best not to encounter whatever it might be without their equipment, Buddy gathered their things to quickly but cautiously make their way back down the rock. They were careful to descend opposite of the source of the concerning rustling, as not everything out here was as friendly as the villagers. It was as they were moving their feet to land on one of the smaller rocks that a figure burst forth from the crops, making a large shadow swoop over Buddy. It blocked out the sun! It also made Buddy jump a good few inches away from the rock face, and pinwheeling their paws they fell down to the ground below. 

…

A light rain pelted the bus windows as Buddy looked outside at the shrinking lights that were New Grump City. It was getting darker out, and the lights further apart. Buddy was tempted to yawn before Filbo walked back over to their seats and plopped back down on his side.

“Wow! I’ve never been out this far in this direction... um, you know, without Lizbert.” Filbo smiled nervously, “Have you, Buddy?”

“A few times for past assignments.” Buddy nodded and then watched the passing light zip by outside. “The bus ride will take about 6 hours and then we switch to the next one-”

A soft thud from the other seat caused Buddy to look back over to see Filbo was out like a light, just squishing his face into the chair in front of him. After blinking in surprise, Buddy gently tugged the other grumpus back to sit in his seat properly, and placed Filbo’s travel bag on his lap so he could lean on it like a pillow. It seemed they were both feeling tired and a bit lost at this point. The meeting with Clumby didn’t go as planned, and there was no more pay to stay at the apartment any longer… but Filbo seemed eager to head out to meet with the others again. Also, to run as mayor?? Buddy had been so worn out by that point, they just agreed, but now here they were on a bus together.

Buddy reached into their vest pocket and pulled out the now well worn letter they had both been rereading for the past few days. The sender was Triffany Lottablog, resident of BerryBarrel village...

…

The mocking cawing of a mischievous bird was scolded by a familiar voice, as Buddy tried to blink the stars from their vision. The wind was gently blowing again, and it was as Buddy began to wonder how long they’d been laying there that a large hat wearing figure came into view. 

“You uh, alright there, Buddy?” Came the concerned tones of Wambus, as he stood over the dazed journalist. “You know I’m no good with medical stuff, and you're not supposed to be leaping off rocks like that. We’ll never hear the end of it if Doc Dawwal hears you broke your leg again.”

Buddy finally managed to blink their vision clear to see the source of their scare perched on a low branch just over the farmer's shoulder in a nearby tree. A large slate black and purple crackle bird took one look at Buddy again, before bursting out cackling again.

Wambus followed Buddy’s gaze, and frowned. “Darn things, they’ve taken a real shine to our wheat crops.” 

The crackle bird’s laughter was cut short by a ketchup sauce plant smacking it directly in its face. Appalled by this, it cawed bird obscenities before flapping its wings and flying away. Wambus helped pick up Buddy’s things as the journalist rolled to their side and stood back up. The farmer eyed them for a moment, as Buddy did a little hop on both legs to show nothing was broken! This time.

“Hrm.” Wambus seemed to glance over the cover of the journal for a moment, before offering it back. “You're working on Triffy’s request already, aren’t ya?” 

Buddy gave a determined nod and the farmer adjusted his hat. There was a bit of an awkward pause, before Wambus caught on to what he had just walked into. 

“...you’ve got that glint in your eye.” Wambus noted, sounding a bit reluctant. “Your not going to ask…”

“If you have time for an interview?” Buddy continued to stand there, holding their journal with a smile slowly spreading across their face. 

Wambus gave a stern glare, obviously he was working! However, the journalist just stood there. Their smile beamed. “...Gruh, okay, fine! You can have your interview, but I don’t want to see you climbing on those rocks again any time soon, you hear?”

“It’s a deal!” Buddy smiled. With a familiar sound, Buddy opened their notebook and batted the record button on their tape recorder with their free paw.

Interview Wambus, read the handwriting on the top of the page. The questions were already written out, and the page had been doodled all over while thinking earlier. All that was left was to get answers. Buddy filled their chest with a deep breath of air, ah to stretch the old journalist legs!

“Who are you?” Buddy asked as Wambus took a seat on the rock pile.

“Wambus Troubleham, farmer and dig site assistant.” Wambus said, adjusting his hat a little bit to the second title. It was new and he still seemed to be getting used to the fit.

“What do you do as a dig site assistant?” Buddy quickly added into the journal, before reading it out loud.

“Oh, I help Triffy with clearing away some of her dig sites here and around the village.” Wambus motioned back over the bridge towards the village and then gave a serious glare. “It’s safer than the Lottablog method.” 

Buddy nodded with understanding as they moved onto the next question. “What brought you to BerryBarrel Village?” 

“When we got back from, you know, Triffy and I went to go get our things out of storage. We may have lost the house, but we didn’t lose everything that was in it. Some of that stuff was old letters her grandmother used to write to penpals. Triffy wrote back to one of them while we were trying to figure out where to head, and they invited us to come visit.” Wambus said, and Buddy noted that was probably the most they’ve heard him say in a while!

“Is that why you started to farm here?” The question seemed a bit silly now, as they stood along the edge of the bountiful fields.

“Well, like I said years ago. We wanted to settle where there was rich soil, and even richer history.” Wambus folded his arms. “Just so happens that the pen pal's daughter was still alive, and remembered her mom trying to talk Triffy’s grandmother into settling down here. Thought she could tempt her with tunnels and old bones to poke at under the village or something like that. So when she heard from Triffy, she was delighted to have us. They lacked the people to work the land and didn’t mind none if I helped out.”

Buddy tried not to think of the winding dark tunnels that Triffany had tried to show them when first making this request, and so quickly moved onto the next question. “Are you excited for the upcoming anniversary party?”

“Ah, well. You know I’m not one for parties. Filbo seems rather excited tho, so I reckin he’ll celebrate more than enough for several grumpuses.” Wambus said with a smirk. They had both seen their mayor running this way and that lately, he was very clearly very excited for the party.

“How would you like to be remembered?” Buddy asked, the question still sounding wrong to them, but it was part of Triffany’s special request. 

“I was wondering where she hid that.” The farmer sighed. “You’ll have to come back later for that one, Buddy.”

The stern look once Wambus had finished talking marked the end of the interview, and Buddy tapped the stop button on their recorder. They weren’t going to push for an answer now, they’d just have to check back in with Wambus later.

“Well if that’s all your questions for Triffy’s project, I’ve got to get back to work! You should see if you can find Filbo in the village, last I saw he was looking for you.” Wambus said, standing back up and giving the journalist a friendly departing wave. 

Buddy returned the wave and turned to make their way back into the village. Gently rubbing the back of their head, feeling they had forgotten something important. As they disappeared over the bridge and into the village, the crackle landed back on the tree and shook its wings in irritation in their general direction. In the shadow of the large bird, the wheat rustled again without wind as a figure looked out of the crops and then made its way back behind the rocks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for such kind words on chapter one! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. <3
> 
> I am a tired and chronically pained bean. It has been a while since I have written fanfiction but I will do my best! This will be... many chapters long, I fear. Please enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> I am a tired and chronically pained bean. It has been a while since I have written fanfiction but I will do my best! This will be... many chapters long, I fear. Please enjoy!


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